


Names

by writeitdown



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:05:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeitdown/pseuds/writeitdown
Summary: Meta discussion about the name meanings in Natsume Yuujinchou.Part 1: Natori's shikiPart 2: Natsume





	1. Hiiragi, Urihime, Sasago

**Author's Note:**

> ※Rambling speculation ahead. Take with a grain of salt.

In the series, exorcists give their shiki false names for the duration of their contract. Knowing that, it's interesting that Natori has a loose theme for his shiki's names.

 

 **Urihime 瓜姫 :** Gourd princess. 瓜 refers to the gourd family (as in plants. Melons, pumpkins, cucumbers) + 姫 hime, which is sometimes "princess" but usually something like "lady".  
**Sasago 笹後 :** Below/behind the bamboo  
**Hiiragi 柊 :** Holly olive, a type of plant.

 

Gourd, bamboo, holly. All three of them have a character related to plants in their names! Why, Natori? Is this because your family magic deals with dead trees?  
+On this point, remember the name Natori gave for his "shiki" in the hidden library episode? Obviously the Japanese pronunciation of "nutmeg" sounds an awful lot like Natsume (natsumegu) but it's plant-themed once again. Coincidence? I think not! ~~Please don't take this seriously~~

But let's delve deeper. Urihime sounded somewhat familiar, so I turned to trusty Google. Results showed that there is a folklore called Urikohime where a girl is born from a gourd, and sometimes the name is instead told to be - you guessed it - Urihime. She dies in the more popular iteration of the story and, oh, gets her face skinned. Note that Urihime in Natsume Yuujinchou has a blood-colored mark on her forehead.

Edit: So I just read chapter 84.1, which deals with Urihime's backstory. I didn't go into much detail before, but in the original story Urihime is lured by a mean-spirited youkai and is tricked into climbing up in a tree. She dies by falling in the Eastern Japan lore, but she's merely tangled in the tree and rescued in the Western iteration. And of course Natsume Yuujinchou is set in Kyushu, which is as far West as Japan goes :>

  
Urihime on the left and Sasago on the right, if you needed a reminder.

Midorikawa-sensei said that they don't show up often in-series because Natori knows they don't like Natsume all that much... They're quite loyal to Natori, and obviously think that Natsume is too disrespectful towards their master. While Hiiragi is also very loyal to Natori, she has a history with Natsume as a buffer. These two don't, so they're harsher to judge than Hiiragi is.

Okay. So then let's turn to Sasago. Urihime was a tale of a girl found inside a gourd, so my thought naturally fell to Kaguya-hime, also a folklore of a girl found inside a plant (bamboo this time). But while sasa is a type of bamboo, the more general 竹 for bamboo is used for the story rather than the more specific sasa 笹 . Hiiragi's name search below gave me an idea, so I looked for an exorcist story related to sasa and hey, what do you know. Apparently sasa was used in one of the oldest exorcism lores in Japan, featuring Emperor Korei (born _342 BC_ ). His army piled mounds of sasa and set fire to them, and the sasa leaves flew up to chase the youkai away. Certainly a good name base for a shiki that works for an exorcist.

  
My bae, Hiiragi.

Hiiragi is a plant, straight up. It's a type of evergreen false holly native to Japan (Osmanthus heterophyllus), a tough thing that endures poor soil, cold, sun and shade. Incidentally, this character is made of 木+冬 (tree+winter) for obvious reasons.

The "heterophyllus" or different/dual+leaves in its binomial name refers to its habit of changing leaf shape as the plant matures. The leaves have sharp edges like the typical holly we think of when the plant is young, but the leaves round into a gentle curve as the plant matures. Apparently this is likened to people maturing over the years (http://www.ukima.info/feature/shogetuin/hiiragi.htm). It did make me think of how Hiiragi was a bit prickly at her first appearance but mellowed later on.

The link above also mentions that hiiragi branches and sardine heads are used to ward against evil spirits on setsubun. Throwing red beans is more common, but apparently using hiiragi for protection is also a custom that endures even in modern times. Especially for Natori.

 

What does all this mean? Maybe nothing, maybe something. But now you know some random trivia!

until next time.


	2. Natsume

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small edit on Urihime's section was made in the last chapter after reading ch. 84.1

Natsume 夏目 : Eye of summer  
Takashi 貴志 : Precious intentions. (one interpretation of many, expansion below)

貴 can be "precious" or "noble".  
志 can mean many things of slightly different nuances. Will, intention, or even favor / kindness (or an intent to be kind).  
During funerals in Japan, the attendees will gift a certain amount of cash to the relatives of the deceased as a show of support. The recipients will, after a certain amount of time depending on which religion/region they belong to, reply with either 30~50% of the cash received or with physical objects like tea. On the envelopes/packaging for these return gifts the character 志 is often written (Christians and certain regions have their own phrase) to signify that the kindness/thoughts have been received and is echoed by the recipient.

Together these two characters make a lovely name that can be taken several ways. Precious intentions, noble will, precious kindness. Midorikawa-sensei mentioned that brainstorming Natsume Yuujinchou got a lot smoother after she named the main character from Takeshi to Takashi, and it kind of makes sense. Takashi is a really fitting name for him, isn't it?

Different coloring

Summer (natsu) eyes (me). Natsume is spelled the same way as for Natsume Souseki, a very famous novelist. I don't know if the name is significant, but the green eyes of manga!Natsume does evoke summer. I'm not sure why his hair and eyes changed color in the anime, actually. Maybe the animation team thought the image colors would overlap with Ginko from Mushishi (aired a couple years ahead), a green-eyed and silver-haired protagonist of a series that deals with creatures similar to youkai. I love both versions of Natsume, but in my opinion it's easier to understand the unearthly vibe other characters sometimes get towards Natsume with the original coloring. I mean, Matoba and Natori both mistook him for ayakashi on their first meeting!

His eyes are still unusual either way. Because of the narrow pupils he gets a slit-eyed look like a cat in bright light. Given that Matoba and Natori both have red eyes, I wonder if unusual eye features aren't a trait of people very strong in spiritual power (sees the kimono as plain deep red or with patterns). Maybe Nanase with her gray eyes counts as well?

On a tangent, there's a saying called 目が出る me ga deru = literally _the eye came forward_. In usage it means _the (awaited) roll of dice is here_ or _good luck has arrived_. The second meaning is based on the first. In Japan, instead of each side a _face_ of the die, it's an _eye_. so a roll of dice you've been waiting for = good roll = good luck.

I amuse myself with thoughts of the youkai around Natsume, how they may start thinking (Natsu)me is here (夏)目が出る when he comes out to help. The strange little human who brings a handful of summer luck with him.


End file.
